Oh man. Shakes did exactly the wrong thing to try to save Tab and the baby. That's gotta sting.

Yeah - I nearly shit when I saw that horizon...she almost HAS to be a goner (unless our friendly neighborhood nun takes her 'hostage' for some reason to reach him). No matter the speculation I'm always completely surprised the following week, heh. Si - pure genius.

@BradSmith I would imagine Si was just referring to the story in general. I would say it looks like the last chapter is about to start, which means that yes, the journal will end, but many terrible things will happen first. The fall of the driftfleet is just the first.

That being said, the last couple of story beats have been exceptional, even given the track record of Wish You Were Here. After the sortie, there was that period of calm, where the fleet was introduced. But then, I would say starting with Seline's first moment of lucidity, the horror element has returned and been building relentlessly ever since. The raid and now this...I read feeling like it is hard to breathe. To be honest, when WYWH is clicking it reminds me, and I've made this comparison before, to Breaking Bad. Where each episode pushes the plot forward and there is a crazier and crazier cliffhanger at the end, which then gets resolved in a way that is unexpected but feels true and honest. And is really cool as well.

I had previously been of the mind that the big drftfleet attack would end volume 3. Seems I was wrong lol. Now I am thinking that the final bit, before volume 4 begins, is (besides the fallout from the driftfleets destruction) Shaky going to Clay Loan to drop the envelope and set up a meeting.

Things of note this issue: Seline lurching out, prophesying doom was just awesome. The rendering of her face and eyes by Fernando Melek continued his excellent work at really nailing facial expressions. Loved how dazed she looked. "Hell. Sometimes she's gotta throw herself one." (and of course, we all know what bone she particularly enjoys throwing herself). Also great job on weaving in the flashbacks and the overlapping dialog, downright Moore-sian. Of course, the big kiss surely means that hell is coming down - I remain convinced that Crossed Gamekeeper will show up before the next vol 4 starts and the suspence is like reaching to touch a bare wire that may or may not be live.

Bravo. Another fantastic ass-clenching episode. My gut actually sank for poor Tabs when I realized what the glow in the horizon was all about. Oh man... that has got to hurt, Shaky. I wonder if the nun will target Tabitha and do something horrific with her and the unborn baby. Oh who am I kidding... of course she will! Oh and I love the verbalization of the connection between Jackson and Shaky in this chapter. I wonder... IF Jackson bites it, does that mean Shaky will no longer have a conscience?

@bradsmith88 - You took the words right out of my mouth. "Fuck. Mah. Balls." is my favorite response to each chapter, as of late. I think it needs to be the title of a fan operated tumblr feed that commemorates all of the great moments from WYWH. <FuckMahBalls.tumblr.com> Hahaha... Hmm....

@blighty - Very Moore-sian indeed! Si has proven to be a master of this type of juxtaposition.

@blueforcetrauma - Yeah, but the drift fleet is flammable nonetheless, and we all know how much the crossed love to burn things.

Oh, this was both surprising and kind of expected, which makes it pretty awesome.

I mean, Shaky said that Teresa's main characteristic was restraint, endurance, all that. Jackson talked more recently about the crossed being crazy bastards, so what could they have been promised in exchange of the inaction, etc. So, Teresa, crossed, plain insane, or not, is still about restraint, and now she's restraining a horde of crazies.

The unexpected part was the driftfleet going to hell sooner than expected. Or rather, hell coming to the driftfleet, since I guess that was one or more of their ships exploding. But as Seline was talking about it, you could see it coming while hoping for Tabitha's sake that you were wrong. But no, there you go, just like what you were imagining. Now, I suppose dora and Tabitha in particular will not be killed offscreen, that'd be going too soft on us

Fuck mah balls indeed. As soon as I read that passage my stomach sank like a stone, even though I didn't yet know exactly what she meant until I clicked 'NEXT PAGE'. Yeah, Tab's situation does not look good right now. If anything, things have hit the fan sooner than I thought. What we all have to remember is that the Crossed accompanying Aoileann are not some mindless rabble; many of them were soldiers in their previous lives, and, Crossed-induced psychopathy aside, they're still the same trained killers they were before, only now without such petty constraints as 'mercy', 'decency' and 'morality'. Like the Waffen-SS or the Imperial Japanese Army, really. And at the very least they have heavy weapons such as mortars, possibly even more than that. Also consider that just one of them (Ashoke) was able to (indirectly) bring down Fort George, and he was a brain-damaged junkie before he got infected... That's a professional army Shaky and co have to contend with, and Seline implying that without Shaky's presence they would have swarmed over Cava ages ago just makes it more terrifying.

The thing that I've always liked the most about WYWH is the characterizations, with the people in the story being three-dimensional characters and not just one- or two-dimensional screaming Crossed-fodder. This chapter was no exception, and it was fascinating to see Jackson first punch Rab in the face in anger over the raid fiasco before helping him back to his feet and -tenderly! - promise Rab that he would ask Dora to send back Don and Elisa's bodies. Likewise Aoileann and Shaky in the flashback. Indeed, even though he's a loonie, Jackson is definitely one of the most moral and compassionate people we've seen in all the Crossed stories so far, and the polar opposite of a monster like Harold Lorre. Aoileann is another, which makes her eventual fate all the more tragic.

Please don't think I'm disrespecting Garth Ennis, but I truly believe the crossed universe belongs to Simon. It's only my opinion. And everybody has one of those. I try to think if Garth was to write a 3+ volume story arch, would it be as strong and taught as WYWH? Who knows? We may never find out but I'm betting no regardless. DisEnchanted is fucking dope too. That is all.

I think that Tabitha is alive and as well as can be expected right now. The Xnun is going to hold on to her for something special, something none of us can fathom or predict as either a present or a punishment for Shakey and I'm both scared and anxious to find out what it is. Si you magnificent bastard.

@ kzootron - I agree almost completely. I'm not 100% certain I think the same as you on the Crossed universe / ownership thing...but I'm DAMN close!!! Si is a genius!

Just as you mentioned, keeping on with WYWH through multiple volumes in the arc, never remotely going stale for even a nanosecond is amazing for this media and genre. The way he pushes this story along is unbelievable. For example, the flashbacks, educating us on what happened in the past without EVER getting confusing or veering of track in any way. He's managed to make the thing read perfectly linear (in my opinion), whether we're in the present or the past. When I'm reading, if I turn the page and see a flashback, then turn again, back to the present - there isn't a single missed beat where I have to put anything together. For lack of a better description, sort of as if I am Shaky, just 'thinking' it all as he chronicles everything...not like I'm reading it on my monitor. Totally immersed in the story and it's always absolutely fucking brilliant!!

(And Disenchanted is only just getting started and I'm already dying for more. (The "extras" are AMAZING) He is most definitely a hard act to follow; if not impossible.)